Sag Harbor zoning laws have proven to be the death of Legs, a sculpture that has been standing tall at sixteen feet and one inch since 1969. The sculpture crafted together out of fiberglass by Larry Rivers, a South Hampton sculptor, was taken down on January 20 with orders from Sag Harbor’s Zoning Board.
The sculpture has found its home at Ruth Vered and Janet Lehr’s home in Sag Harbor. The art enthusiasts and dealers value the history of this sculpture. Rivers, who is often considered the “godfather” of pop art, initially sculpted Legs as apart of a sculpture intended for the Smith Haven Mall. However, after the mall shifted owners the sculptures were removed and Rivers forcibly relocated the enormous pair of legs to his studio in Southampton. In 1994, a collector requested Rivers recreate this sculpture. Eventually, the second pair of legs landed in the hands of Lehr and Vered who believed, in 2008, it would compliment the side of their house rather nicely.
Legs has since become a landmark for many in the town of Sag Harbor. It is not only a strangely intriguing piece of pop art with a history to match, but a piece of Sag Harbor in itself. Many residence of Sag Harbor believe that the sculpture is an ideal representation of the “artsy” connotation that residences have delighted in for years.
For other villagers, Legs is nothing but an eye-soar that currently represents Rivers’ darker history. After the scandal in 2010, in which videos of Rivers’ filming his daughters topless were discovered, Legs has become somewhat of a taboo for the town. Some residents do not want Sag Harbor to be associated with the artist’s disgrace.
These residents no longer view Legs as a masterpiece from an extraordinary artist but rather an unpleasant structure of Sag Harbor. As a structure, Legs needed to be a registered building with a permit. The Historic Preservation and the Architecture Review Board also needed to review the structure. This initiated the two-year debate of the legality of this structure that kept art lovers and angry residents clashing throughout the debate. The biggest dispute was properly labeling Legs as a structure or a piece of artwork. The Zoning Board concluded the debate with the final verdict: the structure was to be removed. Legs was removed leaving Sag Harbor with one less historic landmark.
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